Integrating space and time: a case for phenological context in grazing studies and management

Abstract

In water-limited landscapes, patterns in primary production are highly variable across space and time. Livestock grazing is a common agricultural practice worldwide and a concern is localized overuse of specific pasture resources that can exacerbate grass losses and soil erosion. On a research ranch in New Mexico with average annual rainfall of 217 mm, we demonstrate with a quantitative approach that annual seasons vary greatly and examine foraging patterns in Angus-Hereford (Bos taurus) cows. We define five seasonal stages based on MODIS NDVI: pre-greenup, greenup, peak green, drydown and dormant, and examine livestock movements in 2008. Daily distance traveled by cows was greater and foraging area expanded during periods with higher precipitation. A regression model including minimum NDVI, rainfall and their interaction explained 81% of the seasonal variation in distance traveled by cows (P<0.01). Cows explored about 81 ha·d⁻¹ while foraging, but tended to explore smaller areas as the pasture became greener (greenup and peak green stages). Cows foraged an average of 9.7 h daily and spent more time foraging with more concentrated search patterns as pastures became greener. Our findings suggest that phenological context can expand the capacity to compare and integrate findings, and facilitate meta-analyses of grazing studies conducted at different locations and times of year.

Keywords

GPS collars / Jornada Experimental Range / land-surface phenology / livestock movement / LTAR / MODIS NDVI / rangeland

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by USDA-ARS CRIS project no. 3050-11210-007-00D. Support for DMB, SS and REE was from funding provided to the USDA-ARS Rangeland Management Research Unit, Jornada Experimental Range. Funding for AFC was provided by USDA-AFRI- Hatch Project 1000985. D. James conducted K-S tests on NDVI data.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Dawn M. Browning, Sheri Spiegal, Richard E. Estell, Andres F. Cibils, and Raul H. Peinetti declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose.

All applicable institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2018. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)